Gov. Jeb Bush fired a volley of legal shots Wednesday at the husband of a brain damaged woman who is at the center of a right to die case, saying there needs to be a jury trial on whether Terri Schiavo wanted to be kept alive artificially. The governor also sought to remove Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird from hearing the constitutionality of the new law enacted to keep Terri Schiavo alive after her feeding tube was removed last month. In yet a third legal filing, the governor argues that Terri Schiavo's rights under the Florida Constitution are being protected, not violated.

Terri Schiavo went for six days without food and water after her husband Michael Schiavo removed her feeding tube. Florida lawmakers and Bush intervened, enacting a hastily drawn law that allowed the governor to order the feeding tube be reinserted.

Michael Schiavo has challenging the constitutionality of the governor's action. He contends his wife had said she did not want to be kept alive artificially before she suffered severe brain damage in 1990. Doctors have ruled she has been in a persistent vegetative state since, but her parents believe she is aware of her surroundings and could be rehabilitated.

Bush's attorney Ken Connor said a jury has to establish what Terri Schiavo's wishes were before a court can decide whether her private health care wishes were violated.

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.

From: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7302294.htm>>>>>[excerpt] Ken Connor, the Tampa attorney representing the governor in the case, said that before a court can decide whether Terri Schiavo's private health care wishes were violated, it first has to be established by a jury what her wishes were.

Connor said the governor is arguing his actions were not unconstitutional because Terri Schiavo's case is markedly different from the right-to-die case which established Florida case law.

The precedent-setting case of Estelle Browning involved a woman who had two written wills establishing she did not want to be kept alive artificially. There were no family members disputing that was her choice.

Terri Schiavo had no advanced directives and her parents dispute their daughter would have had such end-of-life wishes. The judge's decision to grant Michael Schiavo permission to withdraw the feeding tube was based on testimony from Michael Schiavo, his brother and a sister-in-law.

Connor said it is improper to use "borrowed" evidence from a separate court case in this new legal action against the governor.

"You can't just say it, you are going to have to prove it," Connor said, adding to not hold a trial would then violate Bush's due process rights.

"We believe the governor is entitled to the same due process rights as any other citizen," Connor said. "He's not a second class citizen because he is the governor."

Connor said the new law is actually an additional layer of protection for disabled people by providing an independent guardian to investigate when there is nothing in writing and when family members disagree on treatment.

The new law also doesn't encroach on the separation of powers because Florida courts have recognized that lawmakers may act to affect prior court decisions, Connor said the filings argue.

In the filing seeking to remove Baird from the case, Connor cited statements the judge recently made saying that Terri Schiavo's rights are being violated.

"The court seems to have just bought the Felos argument without even having heard from the governor," Connor said. >>>>

Gov. Jeb Bush fired a volley of legal shots Wednesday at the husband of a brain damaged woman who is at the center of a right to die case, saying there needs to be a jury trial on whether Terri Schiavo wanted to be kept alive artificially.

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